t's much less daunting once you've put your foot on the road to it. I'm a notorious couch potato and I don't like exercise. Half an hour of physical exercise, like jogging or fast walking a day is a start.

Whatever character you play, remember they are always doing something they are not just talking.

It doesn't matter who you are. What matters is your plan.

Then there's your diet. You cut out sugars, fat, soy sauces... anything that's nice. Tea and coffee is replaced by boiling water with lemon. It's amazing how quickly you get into it. There's also herbal tea and a lot of water, obviously... about two litres a day.

I'm an armchair psychologist, I suppose, and I like to kind of sit around and guess and pretend I know what's going on.

I have to make my bones with Hollywood to get in. And when I do maybe I'll metamorphose from Mr. Muscles or whatever it is I am now and become an irascible tosser.

You don't step on stage to eat; you go there to be eaten.